1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a sensor arrangement for determining an interior temperature in a motor vehicle, which sensor arrangement is at least one part of a climate control panel, having a closed housing with at least one front wall and a rear wall, whereby the front wall is made of a material assuring good heat transport and the housing is filled with a heat-insulator, a first temperature sensor attached to a back of the front wall, and a second temperature sensor, which works together with the first temperature sensor at least in regard to evaluating the interior temperature.
2. Description of the Background Art
Controlled climate units are employed so that a predefinable temperature in an interior of a motor vehicle can be set and a temperature can be maintained. Highly diverse sensors are used hereby to detect the actual value of the interior temperature. In many cases, the sensors are integrated into the climate control panel of the motor vehicle to form a self-contained unit. For this purpose, different effects on a sensor arrangement for detecting the actual temperature must be considered to detect the actual value. Thus, in particular, direct solar radiation on the sensor arrangement can falsify the measured values, which in turn results in insufficient control of the interior temperature. Apart from solar radiation, air circulation, temperature of peripheral devices, as well as the body temperature of the operator, must be considered and eliminated from the measured value to detect the interior temperature.
A sensor arrangement to detect the actual interior temperature is disclosed in European Patent Application No. EP 1 415 829 B1, which is herein incorporated by reference, and which describes a sensor arrangement for determining the interior temperature, the sensor arrangement being mounted on an exterior side of a climate control panel of a climate control unit. The sensor arrangement has a temperature sensor, which is attached to a rear side of a front wall of the sensor arrangement with good thermal contact to the front wall. The sensor housing is closed on the back by a tub-shaped plastic housing relative to the interior of the control panel.
On the one hand, a thermal coupling occurs due to the arrangement of a temperature sensor on the inner side of the front wall, and on the other, there is an extremely precise determination of a temperature before the front wall due to the good thermal conductivity of the front wall. This in turn corresponds to a temperature of the interior of the motor vehicle.